Tingling Feeling
by l-lope estheim
Summary: Five years after the fall Lightning gets promoted and Snow (now married to Serah) promises a surprise, but Light definetly wasn't expecting this! Hope X Light Serah X Snow. now contains lemon sequel if that's what your looking for ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is the first Fanfic I've ever done I never thought of myself becoming a writer but I just had to show somebody this idea I've read a lot of Fanfics on this site so I'm hoping this is good.**

**Updated: Finally getting to fix this a little, hope it improves for readers :)**

Chapter One: Promotion Party

"Congrats Sis", called Snow.  
"Yeah, great work Light", Serah added hugging her sister.  
"Yes but", Snow said his voice breaking. At first Lightning thought he was going to cry but then," I cannot hold it any longer captain Lightning, I don't have the power", both Snow and NORA burst out laughing, but Snow's laughing was cut short as he was smacked in the back of the head,  
"idiot", she said.  
"Oh come on I've been waiting ages to use that joke".

It was the party celebrating Lightning's promotion to captain and although she hadn't liked the idea of a party. She had only agreed to it when Snow had literary begged her to come, she wouldn't have agreed even then but Serah was threatening to do the same. Serah had organized the party itself while snow had invited the guests who included the NORA team, Snow & Sarah (of course), and he had also invited Sazh & Dajh, who were visiting from Nautilus were they had settled after the fall.

The fall. About five years ago now, the remaining L'Cie had returned to their former homes, Lightning had only seen Sazh & Dajh rarely in those years and Hope had returned to Palumpolum and hadn't been herd of since. She missed Hope a lot, the way he smiled even while they were fighting through the pulse wilds warmed her heart in a way few could.

NORA had become a sort of mercenary group that fought troubling monsters. With Snow, who had retain some L'Cie power (nothing compared to the power they had used to fight Orphan but enough for normal monsters) they had brought in enough money to supply for its members. They had all retained their Eidolons but had agreed not to use them except for dire situations.

A year after Snow & Serah had been married (a few months after the fall) Serah had fallen pregnant. When Lightning herd she had nearly shot Snow before calming down and realizing that her sister was perfectly fine with it and she was perfectly old enough. The girl had been born healthy and without complication, they had named her Mary. She was now three years old and lightning felt a little awkward around her. She could hold her and take care of her no problem but she felt odd looking after the little girl she wasn't exactly sure why though. The way the girl would stare curiously at her, as if something was apparently interesting about her.

"Come on Sis sit down here", Snow said gesturing to a chair at the head of the table with its back to the door. Sazh & Dajh were already seated but NORA had gone missing, but she guessed Snow probably planned something annoying with them.  
"Okay", she sighed. As she sat down Serah called out, "come on guys", and the door the kitchen opened and the NORA team walked out carrying the food Serah had cooked and placed it on the table along with a stack of plates and a tray of cutlery. As they seated themselves Gadot brought out the cooler filled with drinks and placed it next to the table. Snow stood up and said,  
"all right we all ready okay, Sis congrats on your promotion and would like you to know that we're all proud of you", "cheers", they all called.

As they began to eat Lightning found herself relaxing a bit and just talking with people about nothing in particular it was a nice break, something she realized she hadn't had in a long time. Her promotion to captain had given her almost full authority over the security regiment in Bodhum and the surrounding area. They had asked her if she would be willing to join the troops exploring pulse but she had refused and they had told her that she couldn't stay in Bodhum if she wanted to rise through any more ranks and she was fine with that. She could more than support herself and her duty was to protect Serah and now Mary occasionally she would leave on a trip looking for a specific threat but she didn't leave for more than a week and wouldn't if she was asked to.

As the food began to disappear from the plates Lightning had a thought, "so what happened to this surprise you had for me Snow it had better not be as annoying as your jokes". Snow shook his head, "oh no you'll like it sis", he said, "but it's yet to arrive".

When the food was gone and Snow looked a little worriedly at his watch Lightning became suspicious. "_What has he done_", she thought. Just as she was about to slip back into conversation everyone became suddenly silent and looked towards the door behind Lightning. She turned and saw a young man there with wearing standard Guardian Corps uniform, messy silver hair and a short beard of the same shade, the symbol for Sargent was on the shoulder pads of his uniform.

"Is there a problem Sargent", lightning said standing strait up. For some reason this made Snow snigger. The man smiled and chuckled and lightning froze a shocked expression on her face.

I couldn't be.

Could it.

He was so tall.

Even as she thought that it sounded stupid.

"Hope", she said.

The man chuckled again, "hey Light".

**So I gave Hope a beard… fuck me right. Lol. Plz review I'd like to know what people think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so first of all I realized I forgot a disclaimer last time so I will this time. Second I realized Hope having a beard might be a bit difficult for some people to imagine but I would like to promise you I am not trying to turning hope into a cave man to elaborate on Hope's beard it is short and neat I hope that reassures people, Also I've been trying to get at least 1000 words a chapter hope that's not too short and for those of you who didn't get Snows joke at the beginning of chapter one you'll have to watch ace Ventura I realized after posting most people might not get it. Lastly to ****resistance123 I never finished 13-2 because I hate time travel but i'm almost finished watching a LP on YouTube so ill review yours as soon as I'm finished that.**

Chapter Two: Goodnights

Lightning felt all her old affections for the boy coming back up again, all though this was hardly the boy she had met in the pulse vestige all those years ago, he had grown into a handsome young man. As she thought this she realized she had never thought of anyone as handsome before.

She had to do something as the whole room seemed to be waiting for her reaction, but she was stunned that the boy she had trained in the Hanging Edge and Gapra Whitewood had turned into this. She had to do something, anything. So she did something that no one expected, even her, she walked up and hugged him. "It's been so long, it's good to see you Hope", she said to him as she released him and stepped back feeling a little flushed,  
"it's good to see you too Light", Hope replied, "I…" but he was cut off as Snow jumped up, practically ran over to Hope pulled him into a tight embrace.  
"It's good to see ya kid, it's been too long",  
"That's great Snow but I can't breathe", he croaked, Snow released him apologized and brought him over to the table as everybody greeted him. Lightning watched his movements he seemed far more confident than those days wondering pulse, where he would cast spells at anything that sounded like a monster and always insisted taking watch night watch with her.

"Sorry I'm late guys but my car broke down on the way here", he said not blushing like she thought he would but laughing instead, "I not very good with cars". "That's okay Hope your still here in time for desert", called Snow.  
"Hey soldier you coming to sit down", Sazh said, "Still your party after all".  
It was only then she realized she had stood in the same spot starring at Hope as he was greeted by the rest of the group. "Yeah, right", she said and went to go sit back down but Hope grabbed her chair and pulled it out for her.  
"Here", he said smiling at her.  
"Thanks", she said quietly.

As she sat down and Hope took a place between her and Snow he congratulated her on her promotion and it was only then that she realized something.  
"So you joined the Guardian Corps"?  
"yeah two years ago", Hope said as Serah went to collect desert with Yuj. "just prompted to Sargent last month and I asked if I could be posted here so I could see you guys again. Then last week I got a call from Snow asking to come to your promotion party, It seemed a good a time as any to come and see everyone so I agreed".  
"I see, didn't take you long to reach Sargent", she said, "Broke my record in fact".  
"Yeah sorry about that by the way", he said, now blushing, "but I had such a great teacher and all it was hard not to".  
She gave him a small smile. "I'm sure the L'Cie power didn't hurt, so when does your posting start",  
" ten days which gives me time to find a place to stay", he said,  
"you don't have a place yet"? she said surprised, he must have made a split decision to come here. "No not yet but I'm sure ten days is enough time to find somewhere".  
Snow then interjected with, "Id offer him a place but now with Mary there's no room left here".

The party began to die down after that and every one had enjoyed the apple pie Serah had made. Even Light had to admit she enjoyed it quite a bit. As Sazh & Dajh left they promised to visit more often making Snow happy, "good it'll be nice to see more of ya".

"Okay then Serah I'll see you soon, I've got to get home, I've got tomorrow off but I still don't want to be up too late", said Lightning sighing tiredly.  
"I'll walk you home Light", said Hope, "oh, isn't your car here though", "no, it's back at the hotel were I'm staying for now".  
"Okay then I'll see you to tomorrow bye", said Serah ushering them out the door. Lightning frowned, Serah seemed all too happy about something and while Lightning made an effort to keep Serah happy when she didn't know the reason it made her uneasy. She was suddenly nauseated when she realized that Serah & Snow were the only ones left in the house.

As she walked out the door and Serah closed the door behind her she sighed and began walking in the direction of her home with Hope trailing along quietly behind her smiling the whole time. "You seem cheerful", she said more quietly than she intended.  
"Just happy to see everyone again", he replied. They walked quietly for another minute. "Serah & Snow seem happy", he said,  
"they are",  
"Mary's adorable too",  
"yeah",  
"I can just imagine your reaction when you found out that your sister was pregnant", he chuckled,  
"he was lucky to walk strait for the next week, if Serah hadn't stepped in front of him…",  
"I can imagine, I'll bet he didn't make any dumb jokes about that",  
"oh I don't think even he could have been that stupid", she laughed and as Hope watched her face light up he began laughing too and the two continued talking and laughing all the way to Lightning's house.  
When they arrived and Lightning said goodnight Hope grasped her hand and she turned to him curiously (he was lucky anyone else would have been caught in and arm bar), "it was really good to see you again, Light", he stood there for a moment starring into her eyes, and then he too bid goodnight and disappeared into the darkness. As he walked away Lightning felt a strange tingling in her arms.  
"What the"? She said and looked at her arms and hands, nothing was wrong yet the feeling remained… odd. She stepped inside her house and went to her room. There she changed out of her GC uniform and into her nightgown and lay down in her bed still pondering the strange sensation.

**Okay so that's chapter two for ya plz review, hope (no puns please) u liked it.**

**Disclaimer on Final Fantasy.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone so here's chapter three it's a bit longer than my usual chapters but I hope that's a sign I'm improving. Tried to do better with grammar this time and have fixed my problems with my computer, so yeah.**  
Chapter Three: Anything For You

During the next three days Hope's time was spent hanging around with Sazh & Dajh, who had decided to stay in the same hotel as Hope for a while, spending time at Serah or Lightning's house or looking for a place to stay. In those days Lightning had been observing Hope with Intent. He had grown too nearly six foot witch made him a couple of inches taller than Lightning but not near Snow yet, though he was still only nineteen. He was still scrawny but he had lost the frail look he had had at Lake Bresha. His hair was a little longer and his facial features seemed more mature. The only thing that hadn't changed at all was his Emerald green eyes, which sparkled as they always had, as if the boy she had trained was still there, locked inside a grown body.

He seemed to have lost every bit of nervousness he had during the events before the fall, and still she wondered at the strange feeling she had the night he returned, it had died down by the morning but she was certain she hadn't imagined it, the problem was she couldn't explain what the feeling was. So she put into the back of her mind and attempted to close it away for now.

While she had done this she had somehow been roped into spending Sunday shopping with Serah, Snow and Hope. This always annoyed Lightning because there were too many shiny things for Snow to play with mainly the Velocycles. But Snow was subdued and quiet for the most part, having gone on a late night monster hunt with the rest of NORA and had only gotten a few hours sleep. She wasn't wearing her uniform today; instead she decided to go with casual black slacks and a white t-shirt with an olive green turtleneck underneath. Hope had worn brown trousers along with a shirt the same shade as his hair and a forest green jacket. As they were at the checkout Serah frowned and sighed, "Lightning I forgot my purse do you think you could go and get it for me".  
"Okay", she said as she frowned at her sister's forgetfulness.  
"I'll go with you", Hope chipped in. Snow put his head on the counter seemingly in tiredness but actually suppressing a laugh, Serah just smiled.

They walked back to the car and retrieved Sarah's purse and began walking back, as she was nearing the entrance to the supermarket Hope shouted, "Light lookout", as she turned to him he pushed her out of the way and raised a hand out in front of him and was hit by a Velocycle and went sprawling a few meters and lay unmoving on the ground.

"HOOOOPE".

**So that's chapter three. Joking I'm not that cruel. Aaaaaaand continue**

She ran to his side tears already sliding down her face, "Hope", she said quietly, "Hope", she said again her voice breaking. Then she heard a groan and gasped as he opened his eyes he gave her a thumbs up and she saw his arm glowing where his L'Cie brand had been. "Idiot", she said hugging him tightly, "you could have cast the protect on me",  
"I didn't think I could cast it in time", Hope said, only serving to make lightning frown confusedly.

"Oh crap, are you two ok", the driver of the vehicle called getting out of the Velocycle. Lightning looked up and Hope could swear he felt a disturbance in the force (cheesy quote) as lightning stood up and strode over to the man who, despite being slightly taller than lightning, cowered at the look on her face. "YOU STUPID DUMB-ASS WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR LICENCE, GIVE ME IT NOW"!  
"W-why should I", said the man with a feeble attempt at standing up for himself.  
"BECAUSE", said lightning holding up her I.D, "I HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TAKE IT AWAY".  
"oh... ah... ok...", he mumbled and gave his license to lightning which she promptly took.  
"I'll file this on Monday under reckless driving", she said and walked away leaving the man near tears. She strode over to Hope who was now standing healthy as ever and smiling at her sheepishly. _Dammit,_ she thought, the tingling in her arms had returned without her noticing and had spread into her chest.

Just then Snow came out of the shopping Centre yawning, "Hey guys, Serah said to ask what's taking so long".  
"We're coming", said Lightning and they went back into the shopping Centre. Snow frowned at the whimpering man and shrugged following them.

When they got home and told Serah & Snow what had happened Serah freaked out and hugged Hope tightly, "oh Hope if you hadn't been there Lightning wouldn't have seen the thing coming", she half squealed into his shoulder.  
"Uh... anytime", he mumbled.

Later that day Hope was saying goodbye to Lightning at the door she still had the tingling feeling but it had receded to her hands. "Uh, thanks f-for earlier, if you hadn't pushed me out of the way, I-I wouldn't be here now", Lightning said softly.  
"It's okay Light you know I'd do anything to protect you, we promised each other remember", he said with a strange expression on his face, it looked almost like… but it couldn't be she was just imagining things.  
"I'll, see you tomorrow then, I…", but before she could say anymore Hope came close to her and gave her a soft hug then walked down the steps and off down the street leaving Lightning to frown and lean her head against the door frame.

The feeling was back stronger than ever and she now knew the common link but still couldn't explain it, her suspicions about the feeling couldn't be true if Hope was the common link, it was Hope for Cocoon sake. But as she thought about it, Hope was not the little kid that needed protecting anymore he was a young man that she had even thought of him as handsome, something she had never done before. "Claire are you okay",  
she turned and saw Serah there looking slightly worried but smiling none the less. "I'm fine Serah, just tired no need to worry".  
"You being tired is cause for worry Claire", Serah said, "didn't you sleep well last night".  
"I guess not, I think I'll go home now and go to sleep early it's still five so I should be able to have some dinner".  
"Okay see ya tomorrow".  
"Bye".

As Lightning walked home she began contemplating about her possible feelings and she continued to all the way through dinner and for a while before she fell asleep.

**Chapter three complete, for real this time. Please keep reviewing love to hear feedback.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay guys here's chapter four of Tingling Feeling. I particularly enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you like it and also DAMMIT I forgot the disclaimer last time again. If there was an emoticon for face palm I would use it now.**

Chapter Four: A Solution

The next week passed quickly with little to nothing exiting happening with the group but as the weekend approached and Hope still hadn't found a place to stay he began to get worried. "If I don't find a place by tomorrow I'm gunna have to tell my C.O. I can't take the post here then I'll look like a real idiot". It was Saturday and Lightning and Hope were talking in Hope's hotel room, she was becoming worried too she didn't want Hope to leave again and had been helping him look for a place, but to no avail. He couldn't stay in the hotel the whole time he didn't have that kind of money. "all right I'll go out and look for a place today and tomorrow, I'll meet you at dinner tomorrow night okay", he said looking at Lightning who nodded and replied, "sounds good if I hear anything I'll let you know", "yeah thanks, come on", And they exited Hope's room went downstairs and parted at the buildings entrance.

The next day Lightning had heard nothing of Hope or if he had found a place to stay and as she approached Serah's house to help prepare the dinner for them, Snow, Hope, Sazh & Dajh she began to worry, if Hope couldn't find a place to stay then he would have to return to Palumpolum and she wouldn't be likely to see him again for a long time if ever. She didn't want that to happen again she realized now that in the time they had spent apart she had missed him and now he was back she felt determined to help him stay so unknown to anyone she had also walked all around town hoping for even a rumor of a place to stay but it was all for nothing and now she was starting to feel depressed she didn't know what to do she had considered asking Serah for advice but knew that her sister would easily catch on to her worries.

As she greeted Serah and began helping her cook Snow arrived along with Sazh & Dajh who he had taken to help fight some small monsters with him, Dajh had loved the idea. Hope arrived a little while later with a solemn expression on his face and merely shook his head at the questioning looks.

After dinner they were relaxing a little but everybody was down at Hope's news. "I'll call my C.O. when I get back to the hotel", He said quietly looking around the room. "Dammit it's such a shame", said Snow who was annoyed at the situation. Lightning suddenly had an idea and, though the rational side of her would say she wasn't thinking this through it just seemed so right and obvious that she was annoyed that she hadn't thought of it earlier.

"Hope", she called, "yeah", he said looking her way", "why don't you stay with me".

The hole room looked her way and she tried in vain not to blush, "I mean Serah's room is still empty so I just thought that…", but Hope had already run across the room and hugged her, "Light that's a great idea thank you", he said excitedly. "I… oh… a… your welcome", she said, mentally kicking herself for stuttering. After a moment the tingling felling returned and she silently cursed it. As Hope released her everyone seemed happy with the unexpected solution and Snow thumped him on the back and laughed, "That's great but be careful Hope, Serah's the only one to live with Sis and not be decapitated", "I've never decapitated anyone", she said angrily. "That doesn't disprove my point though does it" Snow responded with a laugh, she just shook her head.

So later that night they retrieved Hope's things from his hotel room and drove them to Lightnings house with Serah's help and as they were bringing the luggage in Serah had a moment alone with Lightning and took the opportunity to talk with her, "are you sure about this Claire, I mean you gunna be able to hold yourself back around him". Lightning looked over to Serah a shocked look on her face, "huh, how did you…", "the look", she said simply. "it's the same look I get when thinking about Snow, we're not so different as you might like to think Sis", she said walking away leaving Lightning worried about who else might have guessed her feelings. Serah was right after all if she showed any sign of weakness around Hope now she could get them both discharged. She cursed herself for doing this and the rational side of her had its smug moment of triumph then she continued to help as Hope entered the room. After they were done they both decided to get an early night's sleep and bid Serah farewell.

As lightning lay down to sleep she said to herself, "this tingling feeling isn't going away for a while".

**Okay I know this one is short but it was I also got it out faster so I hope that makes up for it**

**Disclaimer: still don't own it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello all and thanks for joining me once again in this trek through my mind, although I must say so far I've kept this story to the sweet side and intend to keep it that way. I might do a poll to decide the base for my second fanfiction, but for now I give you my latest creation **

Chapter Five: Mission Time

During the next few weeks Hope settled into both his new position and his new room and though she hadn't seen him much at work as he was usually working under one of her lieutenants she liked having him there. It had been a bit awkward at home but after a few days they both relaxed though Lightning tried not to let herself open too much for fear she would say something stupid.

But then a problem occurred to her. There was a pack of three Behemoths wondering around in the south of the area and she had to deal with them, problem was the only team available was Hopes group and it was a three day expedition at the least. She was only with him for a few hours at home, could she handle three days around him.

She dint have a choice though as the behemoths were headed towards the city and someone could get hurt so she would have to grit her teeth and fight it through. So she signed the papers and told her assistant to send out the orders. This was going to be difficult.

The next day when they were set to leave, her and Hope walked to Serah & Snows house to bid them Farwell. "We'll be back in three days minimum, okay", she said to Serah. "Okay sis", Serah replied smiling, "I'll see you then". And they left to meet with the rest of the group.

Altogether twenty men and women armed with rifles and a few Manadrives, they should be able to deal with a few Behemoths. Not long after, Lightning called for full march and they all set out double file with Lightning at the head and her second in command next to her and Hope in the third row looking attentive. They reached the edge of the city and set out into the wilds. "At ease but keep close and stay alert we're after Behemoths but there at least a day away there could be other creatures between us and them".

They got through the day with little incident a few monster attacks but most scurried of when seeing the size of their force. As they made camp for the night the all rolled out sleeping bags and lay down, except the night watchmen.

When they rose from sleep they packed up and set out again following Lightning who had the holographic map. When they arrived at the clearing where they were supposed to find the behemoths they stop and looked around, "odd", Lightning thought, this was the only place where the behemoths would nest for a while around.

She was about to look around when one behemoth charged out of the woods as it approach it was barraged with gunfire and magic as the whole group turned and attacked. They quickly dealt with the behemoth but as it fell three more emerged behind it and four emerged behind the group and as they scattered the chaos grew and all Lightning new were the enemies around her as she shot, slashed and cast spells at anything nearby. As she slew the third behemoth to fall leaving five left she realized as the soldier next to her fell, she and Hope were the only ones left. "Hope we can't fight them alone" she called. "right", he called back understanding her meaning, he made a movement with his hands and the space around him began to glow making the behemoths pause, they soon began advancing again, when he shouted, "ALEXANDER" .

Over the other side of the clearing Lightning put her hand over her heart and called softly but loudly, "Odin", threw the crystal into the air and jumped with it and slashed it with her gunblade, as the eidolon appeared he threw her back into the air and they landed both slashing their swords and then the ground shook as Alexander landed near Hope.

Together they made short work of all of the Behemoths and as the last fell to Zantetsuken They began checking the fallen. But they searched in vain though, they were all that was left. "This is the most I've ever lost in one mission", Lightning sighed. "Hey it's not your fault", but he was cut off as they heard a roar in the distance. "We need to find a place to hide, we can't fight any more of them in this condition". "Right", replied Hope and followed her out of the clearing.

They wandered for a while before finding a cave to camp, it was late and they needed to recover but they dared not make a fire for fear of attracting unwanted monsters so they lay down on their sleeping bags feeling chilled by the night air. Lightning took watch but Hope couldn't sleep.

As Lightning began to shiver Hope stood up and walked over and handed her his jacket, she looked at him for a moment then reached out and taking it, "th-thanks", she said. "Anytime", he said, and then sat next to her leaning against the rock.

As she began to drift to sleep trusting Hope to keep watch she leaned her head on his shoulder allowing his body heat to warm her. Hope just sat there and watched the entrance to the cave, he would allow no harm to come to her no matter what it took.

As the night drew on he began wondering how they would get back to Bodhum, after another day or two the G.C. would send a search party but could they survive that long, if they wondered to far they could make things worse by making it more difficult to be found so they should probably find a source of food nearby and a stream. They could hunt of course but they didn't know if there were any more behemoths out there and they needed to recuperate before being able to summon their Eidolons again.

Whatever they did they would do it together and Hope silently swore to get Light home.

**Disclaimer: if I owned it even I would've done XIII-2 better**

**Personal note: I find it ironic that when I was younger I always wanted the name Alexander because of my interest in war history and through that, Alexander the Great, and then my favourite male character in Final Fantasy has the Eidolon with the same name.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay so not much to say besides enjoy this chapter, I've finished school for this year now so I have a little more time. Once I'm finished this fanfic I might try and do a poll to decide a base for the next fanfic so if ur interested keep an eye out plz.**

Chapter Six: Gnashi Fruit & Night Time Visits

As the morning drew near Hope took a deep breath, deciding it was time to wake up he looked over at Light, who was still leaning on his shoulder and pondered whether to wake her up. He soon realized that with her reflexes he wouldn't be able to move without waking her so he called out clearly, "Light wake up".  
Her reflexes instantly kicked in and she drew her hunting knife moving to a crouching position she looked at Hope, "what is it, monsters"?  
He shook his head, "no, just morning", he said pointing to the entrance of the cave where sunlight was creeping in.  
"why didn't you wake me to take watch", she said looking into his eyes.  
"I ah…" he stuttered blushing at their proximity, "I don't… know".  
She quickly stood up, sleep forgotten, "so ah… we should figure out what we're going to do now".  
"Right", responded Hope, "it'll take another two days at the least for help to get here, we could stay here where monsters are a risk or", he paused for breath, "we try and find our way back". He stood up and walked over to her.  
"Neither option is weighted in our favor", she said.  
"If anyone could survive the monsters it's you", he said, then suddenly blushed as she glanced at him, "us, I mean".  
"Agreed, so we should scout around out there see if we can find a source of food and water", said Lightning looking at Hope who nodded.

They spent the next two hours looking around and making landmarks to find their way around they didn't go too far and so were unable to return to the site of the battle, but neither of them really wanted to return to that site either. Once they were found and had obtained another map they could return and bury the bodies of the fallen soldiers. They found a stream where they refilled their flasks of water and a tree nearby that bore Gnashi fruit (Gnashi has a silent G and is like an apple but softer and sweeter).

They rested in the cave for the rest of the day, Hope fell asleep a little while before sunset and Light kept watch until just past midnight when Hope awoke and insisted on relieving her. So she lay down in corner thinking.

This is getting worse they had to stay close all day for safety but all Lightning had wanted to do was hold him. Falling asleep next to him last night had been bad for her it had damaged her confidence and her self-control, she had continuously been distracted by him her whole watch several times she had caught herself staring at him while he slept. She soon fell asleep though that didn't help much as she found herself dreaming of their times in Gapra Whitewood and Pulse.

As her mind drifted she awoke to a hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes to see Hope starring at the entrance to the cave, she looked at it too and saw two Behemoths poking their heads in, it was dark so if they kept completely still they might be able to avoid a fight but if the monsters wanted to rest here too there would be a problem she noticed that Hope had a powerful Thundaga spell ready in his hand. She silently and slowly moved her hand down to rest on her Gunblade.

They stayed in that position for what felt like ten minutes while the Behemoths looked around the cave then they slowly backed away and left. Hope removed his hand from Lightning mouth but they remained in the same position for another minute or so, then "how many more of them are there", Lightning whispered agitatedly.  
"I don't know but we should be more careful next time we leave the cave", Hope replied.  
Lightning stood up and walked over to a boulder and sat next to it then said, "You think you can summon Alexander again ".  
"I don't know maybe", he said stretching his cramped mussels making Lightning blush, "what about you is Odin ready to go".  
"I think so", she replied placing a hand over her heart where her L'Cie mark used to be.  
"Let's just hope they're ready in a few hours because we need to gather food and we might not be able to fight off every monster we encounter".

The next few hours were spent resting as much as they could. And when they decided to venture out and find the Gnashi tree and the stream again, they cautiously left the cave and found their way to the tree, they then began to pick some of the fruit storing them in their pouches.  
As they worked Hope attempted to make conversation, "so what do you think caused so many Behemoths to gather in this area".  
It took a minute for Lightning to respond, "I have a hunch I just hope I'm wrong".  
"Yeah well if it has you worried I'd rather stay away from it".

Once they were done gathering food they headed to the stream and filled there containers. As Lightning stood up she froze on the spot. "Hope".  
"Yeah Light, what's…" he trailed off as he turned and saw with her the two Behemoths they had seen last night along with a far stronger Behemoth King.  
"Can you summon", Light whispered to him.  
Hope looked at Lightning and nodded, "yeah of course".  
And with that the battle began.

**Disclaimer: I wish**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay so I'm gunna finish this story probably next chapter but I was thinking of doing a sequel lemon chapter so if anyone has any opinion on that please review, on another note this chapter seemed to advance quite quickly don't know if that's something bad though, so please enjoy.**

Chapter Seven: Hero's Rescue

As Odin faded away Lightning thanked the mechanical knight and looked towards Hope, who began his summon. When Alexander landed they all turned to the remaining Behemoth and Behemoth King. They all fought together for a while and when Alexander's power started to wane he transformed into the giant offensive fortress. The smaller one fell after Divine Judgment but the larger just stood up and regenerated itself. That left Lightning & Hope alone with the Behemoth king, weakened as it was it was more than a match for two former L'Cie without their Eidolons. But they were cornered, the battle had forced them into a crossing of a cliff and a river and the Behemoth blocked to only exit.

The situation was dire and Lightning saw only one solution, "Hope you have to run".  
"What"? He said looking questioningly at her.  
"We can't beat this thing and only one of us can make it out, you go, ill distract it", she responded.  
"Not a chance in hell, you go and I'll distract it", he said.  
"Hope go, that's an order".  
"Don't care", he replied defiantly.  
"DAMMIT HOPE JUST RUN", she shouted tears now coming to her eyes.

They couldn't talk any longer as the Behemoth King had taken Lightnings shout threateningly and moved to attack. they fought for a while but it was too much. Hopes arm took a deep scratch and blood spilled out and ran down his arm, he groaned in pain and fell to one knee. As the Behemoth King charged at him he closed his eyes and braced himself for the sunder. But he decided to face his death and stood arms outstretched eyes open but before the monster could hit him Lightning jumped in front of him, he wanted to push her out of the way but it was too late so he tried to cast protect on her. She was nocked through the air and landed hard on the ground stopping perfectly still.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Hope screamed viciously as he threw a dozen Thundara spells at the creature. He had never wanted to kill anything more than this creature, even Barthandelus and Orphan. He finished with a final Thundaga witch caused the creature to stumble back but it quickly regained its stance and moved toward Hope once again.

He closed his eyes giving up he couldn't fight any more Lightning was probably going to die, there was no reason to live.

As he was about to be swiped away a wall of ice suddenly slammed into the Behemoth staggering it "huh", Hope looked up to where the attack had come from in time to see Snow and the Shiva sisters creating a ramp of ice down to them. When they reached the bottom they turned to the Behemoth and immediately started to attack.  
Hope ran over to Lightning and examined her. The protect spell had worked but she had still been hurt badly, broken bones by the look. He immediately started casting cure spells on her until he herd her moan, "Hope".  
"Light, are you okay", he said on the verge of tears.  
"Uh, fine, I think", she said weakly.  
"Why did you do that", he said trying not to sound angry.  
"I-I don't know… ", she said looking him in the eyes.  
Hope looked up and they stared at each other for a moment Emerald green eyes into Sapphire blue and vice versa.

And then they kissed. It seemed like the longest moment either of them had ever experience but it wasn't nearly long enough for either of them. They parted and stared at each other for another moment as Snow in the background finished off the Behemoth King with Diamond Dust, the sisters faded and Snow hurried over to them. "Come on love birds we gotta get you back".  
"Shut up Snow", they said simultaneously and stood walking over to him.  
"Do you know the way", said Lightning.  
"I'm not completely useless", he said pulling out a holographic map and handing it to her.  
She studied it for a moment before pointing and saying "this way".

They traveled for a few hours in silence before meeting up with a search party who sent out the message and brought them back to Bodhum. It was late by then and they headed back to Lightnings house, Snow came with them and when they arrived Serah was waiting for them with Mary. "Lightning", she cried out, running up to her and hugging her, "I was so worried".  
"I'm ok Serah", she said, hugging her back.  
Serah turned to Hope and hugged him too, "I'm so glad neither of you are hurt".  
Finally turning to Snow she hugged him saying "and thank you for looking for them".

After a while of assuring Serah that they weren't injured, Lightning saw her, Mary and Snow out, once they had disappeared into the darkness she turned to see Hope sitting on the couch looking dreamily at her, a slight smile on his face. She closed the door and walked over to stand in front of him. They stared at each for a moment and Lightning also began to smile, "tired"? She asked.  
"Extremely", he burst out, falling to the side, resting his head on the armrest.  
"We should go to bed then", she said reaching a hand out to him.  
He looked at her for a moment then reached out and placed his hand in hers and stood up.

They walked upstairs and went to their separate rooms to change into nightwear and then they met in Lightnings room where they lay down in her bed facing each other. he draped an arm over her and she snuggled close to him.

They shared another tender kiss before falling asleep in each other's embrace.

**Okay so I know I don't go in depth to much with the intimate moments and I'm working on that but I think trying a lemon might help.**

**Declaimer: yadda yadda yadda u know the thing**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay so this is going to be the final chapter before I do the sequel lemon, I'm a bit disappointed with this chapter because it seems to end the plot rather abruptly, but never the less I hope u guys like it.**

Chapter Eight: Operation NORA 2.0

Sun shone through the thin curtains and down onto two sleeping bodies, annoyingly hitting Lightning directly in the face. She squinted into the light allowing her eyes to adjust and then looked to her right. Her eyes fell upon a sleeping Hope his messy hair obscuring part of his face but did nothing to diminish his charms his short beard was still somehow neat even after a few days in the wilderness.

She simply starred at him for the better part of half an hour, his arm still draped over her. But she realized with a fair amount of agitation that she would have to head to her office and deal with what was undoubtedly a very heated situation. There was a report to make, condolences to send and a much larger sweep team to send out. After losing an entire squad she would have to start an investigation into the scouts that had reported that there were only three Behemoths.

So she slowly slipped out from under his arm and walked down stairs to the kitchen. As she began making breakfast Hope came down the stairs and smiled warmly at her, she returned it and he began to help her prepare the meal.

As they sat down and began eating Hope was the first to speak, "so what are you going to do".  
She finished her mouthful before responding, "Go in, make a report, begin an investigation and…",  
"that's not what I meant", he said looking her in the eyes, "I mean what will you do about us".  
She sighed, "I don't know Hope on one hand I…" she paused before saying quieter "I-I want to be with you", she blushed and he tried to control his grin, "but if another G.C. finds out then we're both going to be discharged".  
He sighed before responding, "I would…" it was his turn to pause and blush "I would do anything to be with you but I don't want you to risk your job so, I'll quit".  
"No, I don't want you to give up your career for me it's too much", she said.  
"But there must be something I can do that keeps me around here and isn't getting me in trouble", he said, an air of desperation about him.

They talked for a little while longer before getting dressed and heading to work. Lightning thought all day long and was sure Hope was doing the same. She finished early and she and Hope went over to Serah & Snow's house. Snow opened the door and let them in and brought them into the living room where Serah was lying in wait as soon as Lightning entered the room she ran up to her jumping up and down like an exited schoolgirl, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, you guys kissed why didn't you tell me".  
"Calm down Serah", lightning said, then turned on Snow glaring at him, "you're the most stubborn guy in the world but you couldn't keep your mouth shut this once".  
"I underwent a very tortuous interrogation for an unknown amount of time", he said in a serious voice.  
"I threatened to make him clean the house and he caved in ten seconds", Serah said smugly.  
Snow rubbed the back of his head and walked away. "So are you guys together now", Serah continued.  
"We don't know", Hope said speaking for the first time, "we were trying to figure that out".  
"It's so unfair that the G.C. forbids you to be together", Serah said sadly.  
"Maybe you could join NORA", said Snow chuckling as he came back in the room.

All three of them looked at Snow with surprised expressions, there was complete silence for a moment.  
"What", said Snow looking confused, "do I have something on my face"?  
"Snow", Hope finally spoke up, "that's a brilliant idea, it's perfect".  
"It is "? He replied, "Huh, I guess it is".  
"It's in Bodhum, it fits with Hope's talents", lightning said excitedly, "and it won't get us both fired".  
They all began laughing and hugging each other while the finer points of the plan were being sorted.

In the span of the next week Hope resigned from the Guardian Corps and joined up with NORA. Lightning demoted the scouts who had reported only three Behemoths, apparently they were from rich families who had paid their way to their position, they were also held responsible for the death of the squad. By the weekend Serah & Snow had gone on a date and asked Hope & Lightning to look after Mary.

As they were sitting across from each other smiling as Mary walked back and forth between them using the coffee table to hold herself up, seemingly entertaining herself.  
"She's adorable", Hope said.  
"Have you done this before", said Lightning, "look after a kid I mean".  
'No", he replied, "but before the fall I had a family friend who had a kid about her age and id play with him a lot".  
She sighed, "It still feels a little awkward".  
"I suppose it would be", he continued, "I mean when you began looking after Serah she was what? Twelve, you never really learned what it was like to look after a younger kid".  
"I guess your right", she replied smiling as Mary tilted her head looking at Lightning, "its kid of fun you know these moments were they're young and you're wondering what kind of person they'll be when they grow up".  
"Yeah", Hope said, "just gotta hope that she doesn't get Snow's sense of humor".  
"Yeah", Lightning laughed.

Serah soon came home with Snow and Lightning and Hope left for their home holding each other's hands and talking happily elated that a gap had been filled in both of their lives.

**So I will now begin working on my first lemon I'm not sure how well I'll do but I've been doing research and I think I have an idea on how to write one.**

**Disclaimer: I wish Lol.**


	9. Sequel

**Okay so sorry this took so long, I had a lot going on (prep. For Christmas mainly), I hope you enjoy this and I will now look over and update my previous chapters witch I know some people are annoyed with.**

Sequel Chapter Nine

The sun was setting on the horizon creating a beautiful setting in the city of Bodhum, a sight that was not lost on a loving couple. Hope & Lightning were both lying on a love seat (one of those outdoor chairs that swing like you see in the old romance movies) out the front of their house enjoying the view. "Such a beautiful day", said Hope. Lightning hummed in agreement. "Of course it's nothing compared to you".  
Lightning blushed and hugged him closer, feeling the warmth of his body.

They lay there for a while both content with each other's presence, eventually the sky began to darken and they decided to move inside. The ascended the stairs to their room and lay down, they faced each other and shared a kiss.

After a while the kiss deepened and their hands began to roam over the others body, slowly at first but with ever more confidence. Lightning slipped her hands under and removed his shirt revealing Hope's lightly muscled chest. It wasn't long before he had done the same also removing her bra to expose her breasts; they continued an even deeper kiss for another minute or so before they began to turn their attention lower.

Lightning positioned herself on top and began sliding his pants off revealing his now tented boxers she removed them as well revealing his hardened member. She reached out and grabbed it causing a gasp to escape Hope's lips. She glanced at the pleasured look on his face and continued to slide her hand up and down on it causing more gasps and moans to come from him.

She was able to continue this for a few minutes before he grabbed her hands and brought her to face him once again and kissed her passionately, their tongues dancing in in each other's mouths. He quickly rolled them over and began to trail kisses down her body, reaching her core he kissed it before slipping his tongue over it causing lightning to emit a high pitched moan he smiled before pushing his tongue as far into her as he could making her moan again deeply this time. After a minute she reached her hands down and wove them into his hair bringing his head closer. He kept this up for another few minutes before she allowed him to remove his head from between her legs he wiped his mouth panting after holding his breath.

She sat up with him and kissed him once more before pushing him back onto the bed and crawling onto him they looked into each other's eyes as lightning lowered herself onto him forcing his member past her virginity she winced as it tore through, it was painful but her military training had taught her not to show it.

She began to move up and down slowly at first but with ever gaining speed the began kissing again and they kept going for another half an hour with Hope and her rolling multiple times before they felt the end coming.

"Light I'm almost...".  
"Me too Hope".  
"Should I…"?  
"yes"

They only lasted another minute before the came to their climaxes simultaneously, Lightning held Hope close and he her as unbelievable pleasure rocked them both. They lay there panting for a moment before Hope reached over pulled a blanket over them and drifted off to sleep holding Lightning close who had already fallen asleep.

**So that's it, the end of tingling feeling, I'm going to put a poll out to see if anyone has Any opinion on what I should use as a base for my next fanfic. I thank anyone who has read this all the way through a special thanks to JediMayukiDaAWESOME for reviewing lots and being supportive of this fic., Matthias Stormcrow for also reviewing a lot and to AssassinZAssassin & Slayzer who's stories motivated me to actually start this fanfic. To all Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year (to those of different religious beliefs please ignore the last). See you soon **


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